Victims of Crime Research Digest, Issue No. 5

Moving Forward

It is hard to believe that this issue marks the fifth anniversary since the Victims of Crime Research Digest was launched in 2008. This issue reflects, as did the others before it, the diversity of issues facing victims of crime.

The theme of the 2012 National Victims of Crime Awareness Week is “Moving Forward.” This theme recognizes the advances we, victims, government, victim services, have all made towards meaningful change for victims in our country.

This issue of the Victims of Crime Research Digest builds on the foundations of previous issues and certainly moves research on victims of crime forward. The first article by Marie Manikis and Professor Julian Roberts, Oxford University, examines recent appellate cases on victim impact statements, which have been part of the Criminal Code for more than 20 years. In the second article, Melissa Northcott examines a quickly evolving area, identity-related crime, and presents the results of a review of the literature on this subject and a review of services provided to victims of such crimes.

Another area that is evolving is the use of technology to facilitate violent crime, and Dr. Susan McDonald writes about this “darker side of technology” in an article based on interviews with both front-line victim services providers as well as experts in the field of technology or cybercrimes. Following this, Melissa Northcott provides highlights from research undertaken with youth in Ontario and British Columbia on how they conceptualize their own experiences of victimization. And in the final article, Professor Frédéric Mégret, Faculty of Law, McGill University, examines the role of the victim before the International Criminal Court and how that system, which is relatively new and is a hybrid of common, civil, and customary law, is working.

At the Department of Justice Canada, our policy research on victims of crime is intended to move forward our knowledge and understanding in support of the Government’s expressed priority to support victims of crime in Canada.

As always, we welcome your comments and input.